220 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
hold them firmly in place. The cross section of these kaiaks is slightly 
rounded along the keel, with a stronger broken curve along each side 
to the rail. 
Figure 3, plate LXx1x, shows a kaiak from St Michael. It is 16 
feet 84 inches long and 12 inches deep, with 273 inches beam. 
The kaiaks of Norton sound are made lighter and narrower than 
those from Nunivak island. They are essentially the same in the plan 
of framework except that the projecting stern extends out even with 
the spur-like point of the top-piece, which reaches back from the man- 
hole.. In the bow this top-piece extends forward to the upturned point 
of the stem, leaving a broad, slot-like interspace. When these kaiaks 
are covered, the covering follows the point of the stem and of this cen- 
tral piece So as to leave an open space. The same is done at the stern, 
so that there is a slot-like opening there. This projecting point at the 
stern serves as a handle for lifting the kaiak, as does the projecting 
point of the centerpiece at the bow. The central ridge, produced by 
the stick fastened along the top of the upturned crosspieces of the 
deck, is similar to that in the kaiaks from Nunivak island. 
Figure 4, plate LXXIrx, represents a kaiak from King island. It is 15 
feet 3 inches long, 134 inches deep, and has 284 inches beam. These 
kaiaks are comparatively short and broad, with an upcurved bow very 
similar in form to that of the Nunivak island type, and with the same 
kind of circular opening through the bow piece. The stern is quite 
different, however, as it extends back from the manhole nearly straight 
for a short distance and then curves regularly down to the level of the 
keel point. These kaiaks are strongly made; they are used in the 
stormy waters of the strait, and sometimes are taken even to the Sibe- 
rian coast of the strait and to St Lawrence island. 
The kaiaks of Nunivak island and of Bering strait are curiously alike 
in general form, corresponding in a broad bottom and in the strength of 
their framework. The Nunivak island kaiaks, however, are sometimes 
twice the size of those used in Bering strait, and at times the bow is 
very strongly upeurved and the projecting end piece on the top of the 
stern extends out, or out and down, so that the point reaches halfway 
to the level of the keel. 
At Kushunuk and Askinuk, as well as along the southern border of 
the Yukon mouth, the Nunivak island style of kaiak is in use, but to 
the northward it gives way to the type used in Norton sound. South- 
ward from Nunivak island there is a decrease in the size and height 
until they reach their minimum in the Aleutian islands. 
The kaiaks in use on the shores of Kotzebue sound are much smaller 
and slenderer than those found elsewhere along the Alaskan main- 
land, and are built on a somewhat different model. This style of kaiak 
is found from Kotzebue sound northward to Point Barrow, but at the 
latter place they are made about one-fourth longer than in Kotzebue 
sound, and as their width is but little greater, they are proportion- 
ately slenderer. 
